Alchemical Materials
Alchemical Materials is another game option for players of Creator Adepts. If a player wants their Creator to create something of real power or importance (relics, miracles, Golem) than this game option can be used to add both simplicity and storytelling potential to any tale involving a member of the Order of Creators. Simply put, for Creator Adepts who aren't senior members of the Order yet. Their top Degree is still below 15 or maybe their top Discipline is still below 7. Because they are not yet approved masters of the creating arts, they still require raw materials to use in their more spectacular feats of power. When Are Alchemical Materials Needed: The keyword in determining when a Creator can get away with normal Degrees and when they need to resort to Alchemical Materials is simple: is it miraculous? Relics, miracles, Golem: those are the big 3. Until a Creator reaches the mastery levels of the Order of Creators (generally, they have achieved the 15th Degree of their Order) they will need to collect Alchemical Materials in order to make or perform Relics/Miracles/Golem. The gathering of Alchemical Materials is in itself a vast reservoir of potential storytelling. The Creator will probably have to invest themselves in the search for rare or extraordinary items like dragon's teeth or unicorn horn. Will the Creator pay someone to do it? Will the rest of their Squad help? Can they just purchase most or even all of the items online? What about bartering with other Creators? The Greatest Weapons, Ideas: A player has an idea. They want to make a Golem that has rocket-launchers strapped to its back and shoulders. Or maybe they want to make a Relic that grants total immunity to a Destroyers Destroy specific power. Or maybe they want to make a Blessing that, every time the Creator says it, supernatural ropes appear from no where to grapple with opponents. How To Plan This - The Deadline: Relics, Miracles and Golem. In order for a Creator to make one he must gather the materials. But then what? No matter what he is making a Creator needs to have a general idea or goal in mind to work towards. The chart below can be used by storytellers to judge how difficult it will be for a Creator to achieve his desired goal, regardless of what that goal is. Here the term 'Item' covers relics, miracles and Golem. 10 = Item adds a minor benefit to the Adept themselves which is temporary. 15 = Item adds a minor benefit to the Adept themselves which is permanent. 20 = Item adds several minor benefits to the Adept themselves which are temporary. 30 = Item adds one or a few major bonuses (specific powers) to the Adept themselves, temporary. 40 = Item is designed to affect a non-enemy thing during game time, such as an Ally or object nearby. 50 = Item will minor damage (less than half of the enemy's health) or strip powers or affect enemies. 60 = Item will deal serious damage, cripple, affect or counter/strip powers of enemies. 70 = Item will out-and-out kill most if not all enemies or affect them in a powerful way. 80 =Item will summon/create a powerful ally, equal too or greater than the Adept themselves. 90 = Item will cause minor but significant changes in the Adept's environment or landscape. 100 = Item will grant a new Specific Power to someone which is permanent. Whenever a Creator's player has a bright idea they want to turn into a real thing within the game, the above chart should give that player a points deadline they need to meet or exceed in order to accomplish it. How To Cook Up The Miraculous: The Creator's player has an idea, he knows how many points he needs to get. Now what? Now he needs to get enough Alchemical Materials (see list at bottom of this page) whose descriptions include supernatural benefits immediately related to what the Creator is supposed to make (this last one is relative, but as long as a player can articulate a reason why that material is related, it should be okay). Once the Creator has the material you can do one of two things: if the Creator has gathered a lot of material, of a very high quality, the storyteller might decide to just let him succeed. But if the material does not greatly exceed the number of points he needs or some of it is actually low-quality material, than the Creator must Forge. Forging: Forging is difficult albeit simple in theory: the Creator gets a single die (10 sided) for every 10 points of Alchemical Material he has collected and uses for the Forging. Leftover points are simply lost. Forging is a contested action which means it will require a bit of re-rolling for it o succeed. Every time a Creator rolls, he has to get enough points to cover half of the remaining points needed. So the first time he rolls, he needs to get half the points of the deadline. If he gets it, he deducts the points he got from the roll, and then on the next roll must get at least half of those remaining points. 'Split' points get rounded up. Creator can only get dice in relation to the leftover points. Once he gets within ten points, he rolls a single, final die, only on the final roll he merely needs to get above 3 to succeed. For instance, a Creator needs 50 points and he has 52 in Alchemical Material, which gives him 5 dice. On his first roll he needs at least 25 points (25 is 50% of 50). He gets 28! That leaves 22. Half of 22 is 11. But there are only 2 sets of 10 within 22, so the Creator only gets 2 dice to roll. He rolls 13. 22-13=9. Now that the final number of points left for the Deadline is below 10, the Creator simply rolls a single dice to get any number above 3 to finish the Forging and succeed. He gets a 5! Seriously, A Laboratory?: A Creator Adept will probably want to build up stock of Alchemical Materials and store them some place. Also, in order to use them, they will want a secure place where they can do their creating processes in relative safety and security. Hence, the Laboratory! (See Constructions section for more info) Seriously, a Creator with a lab will add more depth to the character. Where is the lab, how did the Creator acquire the space, and what defenses are there? What will the Creator have hidden within? Creators in ancient history used to build elaborate labyrinths through which any potential intruder would have to make their way through. Will the Creator set up security systems and surveillance, or use supernatural defenses including Golem? Creators also require extensive knowledge in order to further harness their power. That most likely means they have at least a moderate library. A lab will be the perfect place to build libraries and store information (and keep notes which could prove handy for later reference). Will the Creator make the lab accessible to their Squad, or will they keep it private? Will they build it at home or somewhere remote? Office spaces can be rented and if the price is right a young and still-rising Creator might buy an office flat just so he can set up a basic lab to worth with for awhile. But let's face it - with the power to create, a Creator Adept could put his lab underground or hidden in the side of a mountain's rock face. If you're going to be all supernatural-like, go all out and put it somewhere hard to find and inaccessible. List Of Potential Alchemical Materials: Alchemical Materials are listed name first with their points award in brackets () behind the name, then followed by a brief description and list of potential supernatural-benefits the item can grant. The list is never exhaustive but meant to give a general idea of what the item's nature is and what it can do. For example... -Dragon's Teeth (35) = Very rare, Dragon's Teeth grants primordial power: chaos, supernatural power, beast, fire, ancient power. -Holy Cloth (7) = Cloth normally taken from the clothes of a holy person: healing, protection, exorcism. -Zealot's Sandals (14) = Shoes worn by a Zealot of 15th Degree: super speed, resistance to wind burn, resistance to friction. LIST OF ALCHEMICAL MATERIALS